How to drive a Stick/Clutch/Manual Transmission
Upon request i have decided to write up a How-to on driving a stick.
In this i will explain how to drive a car with a manual transmission and everything that is involved. I know there are other articles on the internet about this, but hopefully mine will be better and more in depth.
You operate the clutch pedal with your left foot and you operate the gas and brake pedals with your right foot.
Pictures for reference, yes i know my car is dirty:
Starting the car:
1.Insert the key in the ignition
2.Push the clutch in all the way with your left foot (the far left pedal), but not completely to the floor as the clutch disengages probably about halfway and i dont think its good to press it completely to the floor all the time.
3.While the clutch is in check the shifter, put it in 1st gear if it is not already, keeping the clutch pushed in. (Neutral is when its not in any gear, its just in the middle of them all and can move from right to left freely)
4.Make sure the emergency brake is down.
Starting to drive the car:
1.Let off the clutch pedal slowly while you are giving it a little gas at the same time. The more you let off the clutch the more gas you need to give it, but its only slightly, never more than 25% throttle. You just have to get the feel for it and mesh the 2 pedals evenly. All cars and clutches feel different too. This will probably be the most difficult part of driving a stick, starting off from a stop, although its easy once you get the hang of meshing the 2 pedals. If you dont give it enough gas and let off the clutch the engine will die/stall. As far as i know this is not bad for the car, as the RPMs simply get too low and the engine cant move the car at such low RPMs. If this happens, just push the clutch in, turn the key again to start the engine and try again.
2.When you let off the clutch pedal completely then you can being to drive like normal (should only take 2-3 seconds from holding the clutch pedal in to it being released all the way for a beginner, anymore would be riding the clutch and you dont want to wear down your clutch like that). However, dont get to excited because you cant go too fast in 1st gear. Watch your RPMs on your tachometer, and shift about 3500-4k RPMs (you are just learning for now, when you need to accelerate faster you can wait until the RPMs get higher to shift, but always shift before redline, bad things happen when you go past redline)
Shifting:
1.When you decide to shift, push the clutch pedal all the way in, take it out of 1st gear and put it into 2nd gear. Once it is completely in 2nd gear, then and only then should you begin to release the clutch and give it some more gas, similar to starting off. It is EXTREMELY important to keep the clutch pedal pushed ALL the way in while changing gears. If you do not you will hear some very nasty sounding grinding of the gears, which is not good. Also, it is important to be sure it is ALL the way in gear when you start letting off the clutch. If it is not all the way in gear you will hear the same grinding gears sound.
Braking:
1.The clutch and brake pedals have nothing to do with each other. If you need to slow down simply push the brake pedal.
2.However, if you are coming to a stop, push the clutch all the way in before you slow down too much. You can just push the clutch in and then brake until you stop, or slow down some then push the clutch in while you are slowing down and then you will come to a stop. If you slow down too much without pushing the clutch in, the RPMs will get too low and the engine will stall/die, and you will have to turn the key and start it back up.
3.If you are in a high gear and need to slow down quite a bit but are not stopping, depending on your speed you should downshift into a lower gear.
Downshifting
1.Downshifting is good for the above senario or if you are in a higher gear and need to accelerate quickly. Downshifting can also be used to clutch brake to slow down, although im sure that not the best thing for your engine or clutch, but its not real bad for them.
2.To downshift, push the clutch in all the way, take it from the higher gear and put it into a lower gear. It all depends how fast you are going and what your gear ratio is as to what the RPMs would be. In my car i redline 3rd gear at about 80mph. Never drop too many gears if you are moving at a decent speed, because if you do your engine will go past redline which is not good, unless you want a new engine...
3.After you have put it all the way into the lower gear, EASE off the clutch. You dont want to get thrown into your steering wheel do you? Of course give it some gas like always while easing off the clutch. Depending on what gear you downshift to your RPMs will be higher. Once you get more comfortable with your gear ratios and downshifting you will be able to do it much faster.
Stopping on Hills:
1.The worst fear of the new learners. When you are on a hill, either: a) have the clutch pushed in and the brake pressed firmly, or b) have the clutch pushed in then take it out of gear into Neutral and pull the ebrake then you can let out on the clutch when it is in Neutral (this goes for anytime you stop obviously).
2.If you do the option b), when you want to go push the clutch in and put it in 1st gear, then you will be at option a).
3.If you are on a steep hill and there is traffic i would suggest having the ebrake pulled and then proceeding.
4.With the ebrake pulled or not, give it a little more gas than you usually would when starting off and ease out the clutch, but you have to do this quick when you are on a hill (unless you have the ebrake pulled). With the clutch pushed in you are basically in Neutral, even if you are in gear. So, as soon as you let off the brake to give it some gas your car will start to roll backwards if the ebrake isnt pulled. If you had the ebrake pulled, once you start moving forward release it, or release it while you are quickly easing out the clutch and giving it gas.
5.It is important to give it enough gas, more than usual, so the car doesnt stall/die, because it takes more to move it uphill.
Parking:
1.Just like stopping, push the clutch in and come to a stop, and you can either just leave it in gear (with or without the ebrake pulled) as this will prevent it from rolling, or put it in Neutral and pull the ebrake. The first is probably the safest.
2.If you keep it in gear, keep the clutch pushed in while you are stopped, then turn the car off. Only after the engine has completely stopped, you can let off the clutch pedal. If the engine is still running at all, even if you turn it off and its winding down, if its still running and you let off the clutch the engine will stall/die and the car will jerk forward a bit. If theres nothing close in front of you it wouldnt matter as your car would be off anyway. You would just start it back up like normal.
I dont know if i forgot anything i wanted to put in here, if i remember i will add it.
If you have any questions/queries/concerns, feel free to ask. It doesnt matter how dumb you think it might be.
If you think i should add anything to this let me know and i will.
I dont feel like proofreading all of that so sorry for any typos or anything. If they are bad let me know and ill fix them.
Hope some people get something out of this. But REMEMBER, just by reading this and understanding it completely does not mean you will be able to jump in a manual car and drive it naturally. You are still going to have to learn how to drive it, but it should be much easier and faster learning if you know all the ins and outs.
Have fun and drive safe!
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